MDS AdSchool team score two Google Student Axis ideas on final shortlist for Axis Judging

Media Design School team Bella Rakete and Sam Taunton-Clarke have made the cut at Axis’ shortlist stage with two of their ideas out of a total of three making it through to the final round of Axis executive judging, which will take place early next year.

The Google Student Axis brief this year was all about picking a band at a NZ agency and coming up with an idea that uses Google technology and/or real estate to express that brand’s purpose in an innovative way that resonates with the brand’s audiences.

Out of 35 ideas submitted by MDS and AUT students for the first round of judging, 12 finalists from MDS and eight from AUT made it through to the second round of judging. All those teams had to respond to the judges’ feedback before resubmitting. The second round of judging on Wednesday this week whittled those 20 ideas down to a shortlist of three: Breast Cancer Captcha (MDS), Hell on Earth (MDS) and NZ Blood Gain a life (AUT).

Says Kate Humphries, programme director, MDS: “I’m happy to note that the AUT team is also an all-female team, so clearly the Google Student Axis table at the Axis Award show early next year is going to be a bit of a female powerhouse. May the best women win.”

Feedback from the judges after the first round of judging for Breast Cancer Captcha included “Love it. People really concentrate on those things (Captcha), so it’s a great chance to educate” and, for Hell on Earth “Amazing-I’ve never considered what is beneath Google Maps….one of the most innovative uses of tech out of all the ideas”.

And after the second round of judging they passed on this message to all the finalists: “We were super impressed with calibre of ideas this year. All big creative thoughts came from sound insights, with Google tech and innovation at their heart. Great to see a mix of playful ideas and ideas that do good in the world, for a diverse mix of brands. We were also impressed with how the finalists took onboard our feedback and tightened up their ideas for the next round. It was a tough morning judging with seven clear favourites, and near impossible to land on the final three. Congratulations to all involved.”

Adds Humphries: “A huge thank you to those judges: Haydn Kerr (executive creative director at Tribal Aotearoa), Courtney Dow (creative director at DDB Aotearoa), Chris Schofield & Nina East (group creative directors, Ogilvy Network NZ), and Josh Reiri-Allen, (agency relationship manager, Google). We know how very busy you all are, so we really do appreciate you taking the time to nurture future talent by putting yourself through two rounds of judging, as well as providing invaluable feedback for all the shortlisted teams.

“A big high five also to the Comms Council and James Wotton in particular for getting the show on the road in the first place (and making sure it stayed there when Delta hit Auckland). Grateful thanks and a standing ovation to Google NZ for sponsoring the competition, and to Josh Reiri-Allen for the organisation at his end, including arranging an awesome briefing from Tolga Balabaner (creative strategist, Google Sydney).”